Sound Of The Drums
by krsw1151
Summary: It's always important to have a goal; a destination in mind so you know where you're going. Sometimes though, the best destinations are the ones lying just before the goal. Ikarishipping.


**Been a long time since I've posted, but I've been editing a lot lately so hopefully I'll be updating more faster. Anyway, hope you enjoy this Ikarishipping story.**

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**Chapter One**

**An Extra Bed**

Paul was confident when he said he didn't mind the cold weather winter brought. Growing up in Sinnoh his entire life built up his tolerance to the chill. However, he grew up in Veilstone City, not Snowpoint. He had been to the northern part of the region many times before, but never in December. And, for lack of a more suitable term:

It was really fucking cold.

A gust of wind blew his way, actually sending a shiver down his spine. He had just arrived in the city after a few days of traveling in the snow and while there hadn't been any extreme conditions, the temperature in Snowpoint seemed to drop by ten.

He looked around and saw people running to and fro, setting up for the tournament that he was there to enter. Some people just had thin sweaters on and he could've sworn he saw a couple of young men in T-shirts. How they weren't turning into living popsicles was beyond Paul's understanding.

He shook off the snow that clung to his jacket before stepping into the Pokemon Center, welcoming the warm central heating with a quiet sigh. It had been far too long since he had slept in a bed in a place that was actually warm rather than freezing his insides out.

He had come here for the Snowpoint Tournament. It was the standard tournament: preliminaries and then bracket battles. But this one was different; only trainers who had some record to their name could enter, such as placing high in a League, Grand Festival, conquering a Battle Frontier, or just winning a high stakes competition. Only trainers with some kind of merit would even be allowed to enter and Paul was looking forward to a challenge. He had won the Indigo League last year and returned to Sinnoh to accomplish the same thing. It started next month, he needed some good practice.

He made a beeline to the front desk, wanting to get settled and have his Pokemon looked at before doing some drills in the snow. "I'd like a room and my Pokemon checked out," he told the woman at the front desk.

It wasn't Nurse Joy, but an older woman with her brown hair tied in a messy bun and wide glasses. She looked up from the computer and gave him a warm smile. "Sure thing young man," she pulled a tray from the side of the counter and slid it to him. "Just put your Pokemon on this and we'll get to looking after them as soon as possible, Nurse Joy and the rest of the staff are swamped right now with trainers here for the tournament," she looked him in the eye. "Are any of your Pokemon in need of immediate treatment?"

Paul shook his head, loading his Pokeballs on the tray. The woman sighed with relief. "That's good," she took the tray, waved a Chansey over and handed his Pokemon off with the standard instruction. She returned to her chair, "Now just let me get that room for you."

Paul waited patiently, glancing around the lobby. It was very full, many people with their smaller Pokemon were lounging around, sipping hot chocolate and watching some daytime talk show on the television.

He heard a low sound come from the receptionist and looked down to see her with a troubled expression. "It doesn't seem like we have any empty rooms left, but many of the rooms have extra beds," she glanced up at him. "I'd have to check with the residents but I'm sure someone wouldn't mind having a roommate, this happens every year after all. Is that alright with you?"

The idea of rooming with a complete stranger wasn't appealing to Paul in the slightest, especially since he just hated rooming with anybody to begin with. But the idea of camping out in the snow again was even worse.

"That's fine," he said simply as the receptionist beamed. She began making a few calls to the rooms with available beds, all the while he stood there dreading that it would be some talkative nobody who wanted to be his friend.

"Thank you so much miss, we'll see you in a minute," the receptionist hung up the phone. "A group of three have an extra bed that they're willing to let you use. The girl said she'd come down and give you the extra room key."

"Thank you," Paul said. Great, three people. This was sure to be a long couple of days.

About a minute later, a girl appeared from around the corner. "Excuse me? You needed the extra-." her pause made Paul look back toward her and he stilled in recognition.

It was Dawn, the coordinator who traveled with Ash Ketchum.

She recognized him too, her eyes wide with shock, the keycard for the room held loosely in her hand, almost like she was about to drop it.

Paul had seen her every once in a while on t.v. but it had been years since he had seen her in person. She somehow seemed shorter than last time, which he chalked up to he himself being a lot taller. But she still had a presence about her, as most well known trainers did. She had also gotten prettier, something he noticed quickly.

It really made him realize just how long it had been.

The receptionist looked between the two. "Are… you two aquainted?"

Dawn blinked and then gave a nervous laugh. "Oh, um, yes, yes we are." She looked back up at him, tilting her head back to lock eyes with him. "It's been a while, huh Paul?"

Paul nodded. "It has."

She stared at him for a few moments more, almost as if she was convincing herself that he was actually standing there. Then she held the card out to him. "Here. We have an extra bed in our room."

"I know," he said as he took it. "Thank you."

She grimaced and laughed again. "Yeah, obviously. Well, um, let's go then." she bid farewell to the receptionist and led the way back to the room.

A silence appeared between them. It wasn't exactly awkward or heavy, but neither of them really knew what to say to each other. Paul glanced down at her to see her face was a little red and she was fidgeting with her bracelet. How long had it been exactly? Eight? Maybe nine years? It seemed a little strange seeing her again. He didn't think of her much, he just associated her with Ash and even then it was only a passing thought. He had been occupied with getting stronger, pushing both his Pokemon and himself to the limits. His goal was just over the horizon, he couldn't fall behind with memories from the past.

"So," Dawn spoke up. "I heard that you won the Kanto League last year. Congratulations."

"Thank you."

She tugged at her bracelet. "I only watched the final battle once I heard you were in the finals," she seemed to break out of the shy persona a little as she smiled up at him. "The way Torterra defeated that Venusaur was really amazing. I forgot just how strong it was."

Paul nodded. "It's gotten stronger."

"For sure," she then shot a curious look his way. "Why didn't you go on to the Championship League? I'm sure you would've gotten far, if not won it entirely."

Paul was a little taken aback at her comment. Back then, he knew she hadn't thought much of him, sometimes outright telling him so. So to hear her say she had complete faith in his abilities was a little surprising.

"I'm going to win this League and then go onto the Championship here."

She blinked and then asked quietly, almost in a whisper, "Is it because you want to defeat Cynthia?"

He locked eyes with her and she stared back solidly, almost as if daring him to tell her she was wrong. After a few moments, he gave a stiff, "Yeah."

Dawn smiled a little at her victory. "There are quite a few strong trainers here, at least from those that I've seen," she changed the subject, returning her gaze to face forward. "You remember Barry Pearl and Conway Mito, right? They're competing. Some coordinators I know are also here. But I don't think Candice Donohue is going to participate this year, Zoey only mentioned a little bit about."

There was the Dawn he remembered, the one who talked a lot without much hesitation.

She rattled off some more names, some he recognized but most he had never heard of, until they reached the room. Dawn used her keycard to open the door, only to be immediately bombarded with a very loud and familiar voice.

"What took you so long Dawn?! The League Lineup is about to start and I want to see who's qualified so far! If you were any longer I was going to fine you!" Barry shouted, almost at the top of his lungs, not even giving Dawn the chance to respond to any of his questions. Paul was starting to regret his decision to take the extra bed.

Barry was about to launch into another question when his eyes landed on Paul and he went completely silent for about three seconds. Then he screeched, "Paul? Paul Rebolledo?!"

"Huh?" a quieter voice came from inside the room. A plain looking boy, who Paul vaguely recognized but couldn't name appeared just over Barry's shoulder.

But Barry gave no one any chance to react. "Whoa! It's really you! Let's battle!"

Dawn threw an almost apologetic look over her shoulder at Paul and he could only sigh quietly to himself. This was going to be a very long few days.

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**I already have Chapter 2 written, I just gotta go back through and fix everything so stay tuned and thanks for reading!**


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